All motorized vehicles that have access to roadways must be equipped with a horn so that others can be warned when a dangerous situation is impending. Those vehicles that are driven using handlebars (motorcycles, snowmobiles, motor scooters, and other handlebar operated vehicles) usually have the horn actuator on a console adjacent to one of the handlebars, usually the left handlebar. To actuate the horn, the driver must take his eyes off the road to locate the correct button on the console and remove his or her hand from the handlebar to press that button, the horn actuator. Handlebar operated vehicles are fully open to the elements and offer no protection to the driver. Additionally, these vehicles travel at considerable speeds. Therefore, any time a driver must change the grip or remove the hand from the handlebar concentration is altered and the driver's eye is not on the road ahead. These actions place the driver in a very unsafe situation. The danger is compounded when something happens that requires the horn to be sounded and at the same time the driver must react quickly, often to save his or her life, while maintaining balance and control of the vehicle.
There have been horn actuators built into the steering wheels of automobiles that enable the driver to press or squeeze the wheel at any place around the circumference of the wheel to sound the horn. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,943,164; 2,946,869; 3,476,897; 3,876,844; and 4,742,192. These patents all accomplish the same end using somewhat similar technologies.
There has only been one attempt to solve this problem for riders of motorcycles and no references have been found for use with other motorized handlebar operated vehicles. Conti, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,708,244 teaches the use of a ribbon switch placed into a 360° recess in the rubber hand grip of the left handlebar. The recess is located in a narrow area around the inside end of the hand grip. Leads from the ribbon switch are connected to the horn and the battery respectively. Any pressure or squeezing at the inside end of the handlebar grip, directly over the switch, will actuate the horn. However, though the switch is around the inside end of the grip, a motorcyclist usually grips the handlebar along the central portion of the grip. This means that the hand must be moved to the innermost end of the grip to actuate the switch as taught by Conti. Certainly moving the hand along the grip is safer then moving it off the grip to press a button on the console, but any movement of the hand at a critical time, even to the inside edge of the hand grip, can disturb the driver's concentration when split second action may be needed to avert an accident.
There is a need for a means to actuate the horn of a motorcycle or other handlebar operated vehicle whereby the driver does not have to take his or her eyes off the road or move his or her hand from its normal operating position on the grip in order to actuate the horn.